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Tuesday, February 28, 2012

A Delicious Adventure in Helen, GA

This past weekend, Brad and I took a quick vacation getaway to one of our favorite little mountain towns - Helen, GA. We fell in love with the German charm and easy-going atmosphere of this quaint community during our first visit there last year (see my post HERE) and have been wanting to go back ever since. Sometimes, all you need is a few days of rest, relaxation and a tad bit of mountain adventure to recharge your batteries! We had a TON of fun!

It's funny how my idea of a perfect souvenir has changed over the years. Practically every souvenir we bought was somehow food-related, of course! While there, we picked up:

White Speckled Grits from Nora Mill Granary

Yellow Cornmeal from Nora Mill Granary

Local Wildflower Honey

Tupelo Honey

Chocolate Covered Coffee Beans from Jumpin' Goat

A really cool Burlap Coffee Sack from Jumpin' Goat

Wine from Habersham Winery

Fresh Mississippi Mud & Almond Joy Fudge

Assorted pastries from Hofer's Bakery (Two Words: Apple Fritters!)

"Farmer's Cheese" from the Old Sautee Store

Here are some more pics from the weekend (all taken with my trusty little iPhone):

Boiled peanuts in the making at a rustic farmers market

Fresh honey

An old barn we discovered on a walk through the woods with our dog, Hannah...

A little comic relief on that same walk through the woods. It's hard to get Brad to pose for a picture without being silly in at LEAST one!

Antlers in a window

Goodies at Hofer's Bakery...If you ever go, you absolutely MUST try their Apple Fritters. They alone are worth the drive to Helen...no kidding, folks.

That night back at the cabin, we built a cozy fire. And, no fire would be complete without s'mores! :)

While there, we hiked around a lake, which was beautiful. I think Hannah had even more fun on this vacation than Brad and me!

Hiking around the lake...

Jumpin' Goat Coffee Roasters is a great coffee shop, with lots of fun things to browse through. I found a really cool burlap coffee sack, and their chocolate covered coffee beans are quite addictive. This is where I found the Tupelo honey...aka "liquid gold."

The Nacoochee Grill and Nacoochee Village Tavern both offer delicious food. The Nacoochee Grill was our favorite restaurant on our trip last year, so we were excited to visit again this time around. While the food was still great, the service was painfully slow when we ate there for lunch. It took close to an hour to get our food! However, we decided to give them one last shot and ate there again the next night for dinner. This second visit was MUCH better. Our food arrived quickly and the service was excellent. Perhaps they were just having an off-day? I had the Chicken Pot Pie and Brad chose the Shrimp and Grits. Yum!

The Nacoochee Village Tavern was wonderful! This was our first visit to the Tavern, and they served up a DELISH pizza piled high with all the trimmings.

The staff at Nacoochee Village Tavern was also wonderful. Sean (on the left) and Chase (on the right) even posed for a quick picture in between all that pizza-making.

In conclusion, if you ever have the chance to visit Helen, GA, I highly recommend it. I'm sure that Brad and I will return...hopefully sooner rather than later!